Abstract: To investigate the volatile chemical components in flower buds of Magnolia sinostellata at different developmental stages, shade-dried flower buds of Grades I to V were analyzed using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed that a total of 48 volatile compounds, categorized into six classes: alcohols, aromatic hydrocarbons, aldehydes, terpenes, ketones, and esters were detected in the flower buds. Terpenes were the most abundant class, comprising 37 compounds, followed by alcohols (5 compounds) and aromatic hydrocarbons (3 compounds). The least abundant classes were ketones, esters, and aldehydes, each containing only 1 compound. The number of mass spectral peaks varied slightly among different grades: Grade II exhibited the highest count (32 peaks), followed by Grades IV and V (31 peaks each), while Grades I and III had the fewest (30 peaks each). Although the total number of volatile chemical component types was similar across grades, their specific compositions differed. There were 17 common compounds shared and 2−3 unique compounds among all grades. Eucalyptol consistently showed the highest relative content across all grades. Camphene ranked second in Grades I-IV, while sabinene became the second most abundant compound in Grade V. This study on the volatile chemical components of M. sinostellata flower buds at different developmental stages provides a scientific basis for their conservation and utilization.